Thompson Seedless

The variety is very old and originates in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, where it has long been grown for drying under names such as Sultana and Kishmish. It spread through Mediterranean viticulture and, later, to other warm regions worldwide.

The name Thompson Seedless comes from William Thompson, an immigrant grower in California who is credited with propagating and popularising the variety there in the 1870s. In much of the world the same grape is still called Sultana or Sultanina.

Thompson Seedless is vigorous and high-yielding under suitable conditions. Because its most fruitful buds are further along the cane, it is generally cane-pruned rather than spur-pruned. It is grown mainly in hot, irrigated regions where a long, dry season supports ripening and, for raisins, drying.

• Naturally seedless, favouring drying and seedless table use
• Vigorous vines usually managed by cane pruning
• Best suited to hot climates with a long, dry ripening season
• Commonly grown under irrigation in semi-arid regions

The variety is multipurpose. A large share of the crop is dried into raisins (including the pale golden raisins associated with the Sultana name), while fresh fruit is sold as seedless table grapes, and some of the crop goes to juice and concentrate.